Be the Boss!

Why NOW is the time to demonstrate your expertise and experience. And to build an income stream by promoting high value additives.

A special feature from Kalimex, the UK distributor of JLM Lubricants products

At the recent DPF Doctor event, organised by Darren Darling the founder of the independent, globally recognised DPF Doctor Network, several speakers shared their wisdom. This included DPF Doctor Barry Lawson, the international bestselling marketing author Dee Blick, Jeroen Schutz the recently appointed sales manager for JLM Lubricants and Mike Schlup the MD of Kalimex. Marking his return with a rousing reception from the audience was Steve Scott, founder of SimplyDiag. Multiple award winners Leeds based A&J Fleetcare spoke about their journey to date and the positive effect that winning awards has had on their business.

Jeroen struck a chord when he spoke about the importance of the Doctors being the bosses of their own workshop; how every one of them can build a profitable income stream by adding high quality lubricants and additives to the service, maintenance, and repair programmes offered to customers. These points were validated by Barry Lawson. Barry has built a significant revenue stream from selling multiple units of JLM products to his customers – at servicing and in between workshop visits. He shared the JLM Lubricants products he uses in the workshop and those he recommends customers use in between visits. More below!

So, why is it important you’re seen as the boss of your workshop?

“This is not about flexing muscles. It’s about technicians claiming and showcasing their expertise and experience so that every customer can see they’re entrusting their vehicle to the best,” says Dee Blick. “By doing this, a workshop moves from being the seeker of work to the sought after. And just how important is this at the moment with budgets being squeezed? If your workshop is in the sought after category you don’t have to reduce prices to remain in demand because people are seeking you out wanting the best their money can buy. Workshop resources and purchasing can be planned more effectively if the order book stretches into months not days. And customers are more likely to trust the advice given by their workshop when it comes to using good quality lubricants and additives – liquid tools in a bottle – as part of their service and added value offering. If you’re a valued source, customers will trust what you say and what you recommend especially now with the family car being held onto for longer.”

“We saw the importance of this when Barry spoke at the DPF Doctor event. He discussed the growing income stream he has been building over the last few years from using JLM Lubricants products, in many cases by promoting their use in between workshop visitors so that customers buy multiple products. 99% of his customers were more than happy to invest in products that when the reasons for doing so were explained, they could see the link between maintaining vehicle health, promoting fuel economy, and reducing the need for parts.”

Being busy is no excuse to not become the boss of your own workshop and, to explore the link between high quality additives and making more money…

Where does it all start? You must know your worth and be prepared to talk about it

• Perform an audit of your skills, experience, expertise, and knowledge. This one exercise will fire up your confidence so that you can really see you are the real deal! Record what you find and share it with your team. You must all sing from the same hymn sheet if you are to build a compelling picture of your brand.

• Do you make customers aware of the training you/your team have undergone, the awards you have won and your membership of prestigious organisations – verbally and in written communications? This is not boasting – it’s giving customers even more reasons to stay with you, recommend you and trust your recommendations. This includes recommending products so you can build a lucrative income stream. Research from Castrol strongly indicated that customers are more likely to trust the additives recommended by their garage, especially if these products do not fall into the 'cheap as chips' category. It makes sense. Why would a technician put their name to brands that frequent the bargain buckets in the local supermarket?

• If you employ people can every member of your team pass the simple elevator test – that when asked to share what makes your business so exceptional/customer focussed they can do so in a matter of seconds? Because if they’re not inspiring customers they chose wisely, they are making it much harder to begin the essentially straightforward task of discussing the additives they recommend for optimum vehicle maintenance.

Which products to recommend – Be Like Barry!

At the DPF Doctor event, Barry spoke about the JLM Lubricants products he uses at vehicle servicing and that he recommends and sells to customers on repeat purchase.

His top five were:

J04835 - Engine Oil Flush

J02370 - Diesel Emission Reduction Treatment

J03150 - Petrol Emission Reduction Treatment

J03170 - Petrol GDI Cleaner

J02230 - DPF Clean & Flush Fluids

Barry uses these products because they’re integral to the services he offers. Whilst many customers are happy to trust his recommendations with no further explanation, others like to know a little more. “The best quality additives and the best quality service simply cannot be the cheapest,” says Barry. “ JLM products fall into the preventative maintenance category. Other suppliers of lubricants and additives do not provide the technical training that JLM is renowned for. You can be competitive using JLM products and also make an incredibly good profit for your workshop. Sales are up on last year because customers not only trust the products, but they also use them as recommended by us in between visits to our workshop.”

If you are interested in building workshop revenues using the JLM Lubricants’ range of products visit www. jlmlubricants.com or email info@kalimex.co.uk.

Not only do certain steering and suspension components generate heat but they can also be damaged by absorbing heat energy from surrounding parts